Mike Nadel: Singletary wins battle, but war could be ugly

Mike Nadel

Thursday

Oct 30, 2008 at 12:01 AMOct 30, 2008 at 5:41 PM

Today's jocks are selfish, cocky, coddled, showboating, trash-talking, look-and-me brats. If only somebody would put them in their place. Wait! There's hope! I mean, did you see what Mike Singletary did in his first game as San Francisco 49ers coach?

Today's jocks are selfish, cocky, coddled, showboating, trash-talking, look-and-me brats. If only somebody would put them in their place. Wait! There's hope! I mean, did you see what Mike Singletary did in his first game as San Francisco 49ers coach?

From coast to coast, sports fans are still talking about Singletary's smackdown of Vernon Davis after the Niners tight end received a questionable personal-foul penalty last Sunday.

On a 1-to-10 scale of outrageous behavior in sports, Davis' post-play tap on an opponent's facemask would hover barely above zero. On a 1-to-10 scale of disciplinary measures, Singletary's moves - first benching Davis, then sending him to the showers, then ripping Davis during his post-game press conference - would rate at least a 12.

Singletary, the famously intense former Bears linebacker who became 49ers interim coach after Mike Nolan was fired, seemed more upset with Davis' indifferent reaction to the benching than he was with the penalty-drawing infraction.

"I will not tolerate players that think it’s about them when it’s about the team," an emotional Singletary said after the lopsided loss to Seattle.

"We cannot make decisions that cost the team, and then come off the sideline and it’s nonchalant. No. I'm from the old school. I would rather play with 10 people and just get penalized all the way until we've got to do something else than play with 11 when I know that person is not sold out to be a part of this team.

"It is more about them than it is about the team. Cannot play with them. Cannot win with them. Cannot coach with them. Can't do it. I want winners!"

Bravo!

Singletary also dropped his pants during a fiery halftime speech, switched quarterbacks and apologized to fans on his way off the field, but it was his handling of Davis that grabbed headlines.

"I didn’t expect him to come at me the way he did," Davis told San Francisco reporters Monday. "I guess that’s his way of coaching."

Is it the right way? In an ideal world, yes.

The behavior of athletes is a familiar theme in letters I've received over the years. While the opening paragraph of this column was intentionally over the top - hundreds of athletes are decent folks who don't fit that description - fans are sick of those who commit crimes away from the arena, those who celebrate every play and those who taunt opponents.

It's cool that the World Series was won by Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel, who during the season benched All-Star Jimmy Rollins for lack of hustle. The opposing skipper, Tampa Bay's Joe Maddon, had benched B.J. Upton on multiple occasions.

Why are those the exceptions? Because coaches want to win.

When I heard Singletary's rant, I thought about all the times Phil Jackson ignored Dennis Rodman's antics - as well as when the former Bulls coach didn't punish Scottie Pippen for quitting during a playoff game. I thought about the way Lovie Smith has enabled the Bears' miscreants in recent years. I even thought about some of the things Mike Ditka let Singletary's Bears teammates get away with in the 1980s.

See, there are far more athletes than coaches. When a team loses, it's the upstanding coach who gets fired, not the jerk players. Jackson has looked the other way and has won nine NBA titles with two teams. Meanwhile, tough-guy NHL coach Brian Sutter has won nothing, bouncing from job to job because players quickly tuned him out.

While a few disciplinarians have found success, most men running pro sports teams are "players' coaches" and "players' managers."

Singletary is already 0-1. His hopeless team is 2-6. He must win to keep what might be the only head-coaching job he'll ever have. Davis has fewer worries. He's a talented player who likely will reap millions for years.

Also, Singletary has set quite a precedent. Will he bench everyone who commits a stupid penalty? How about every player who does a sack dance, thereby putting self ahead of team? Where does the coach draw the line?

Most people are in Singletary's corner, lavishing him with good-for-yous. I'm there, too; it's nice to see a coach stand up for a noble, team-first principle.

Unfortunately, plenty of principled coaches and managers find themselves unemployed while the petulant punks get to keep playing.

Look who’s back

The Bears' defense hasn't been the same since Lovie Smith hired buddy Bob Babich as defensive coordinator after unceremoniously canning Ron Rivera, who merely had helped the team reach the Super Bowl.

Rivera is coordinating an NFL defense again, having been promoted by San Diego to replace the fired Ted Cottrell.

Expected to be championship contenders, the Chargers are 3-5. Though they've suffered injuries - most notably to star pass-rusher Shawne Merriman - they are too talented to rank 28th defensively. It will be interesting to see if Rivera can coax excellence out of them again.

First Singletary, then Rivera. The NFL is ruled by linebackers from the '85 Bears!

Isn't it only a matter of time before Otis Wilson replaces Roger Goodell as NFL commissioner?

Cautionary tale

Quarterbacked by Rick Mirer, overseen by mama's boy Mike McCaskey and coached by Dave Wannstedt, no wonder the 1997 Bears started the season 0-7. For their next game, they traveled to Miami to play the 5-2 Dolphins of Dan Marino, Jason Taylor and Jimmy Johnson.

The question wasn't if the Bears would lose or even how much they'd lose by. It was: Will the league cancel the second half of Chicago's season in a mercy killing?

Then, game day arrived: Bears 36, Dolphins 33.

Why the trip down memory lane? Well, the Bears play the Detroit Lions at Soldier Field this Sunday.

The Bears, like the 1997 Dolphins, are tied for first place. And the Lions, like the '97 Bears, are 0-7 knuckleheads facing a superior team on the road.

"We'll have to play our best ball," Lovie Smith said, unconvincingly.

Even if the Bears play far less than their best, they'll win. I'm saying 40-16, and I wouldn't be surprised if the NFL announces afterward that it's canceling the second half of Detroit's season in a mercy killing.